Ice Breaker
by Naoko Asakura
Summary: The years go by, and Wendy and Dipper learn some hard lessons about the bleary line which separates love and friendship. ONGOING SLOW BURNER. (Chapter seven rewrite is up!)
1. Prologue

**1.**

Rain came down in sheets the night Dipper and Mabel Pines' bus pulled into Gravity Falls. They hurried out of the storm and into the Speedy Beaver bus depot, which was nothing but a small ticket booth and a cramped indoor waiting area where the sound of the rain resounded like endless static at the end of an old videotape.

"Geez this is unreal. When did Stan say he was coming to pick us up?" Mabel asked, raising a hand to wipe away a patch in the foggy window.

This neck of the woods had never been a bustling place, but the roads around the depot were emptier than either of them could remember. Dipper sighed and let his eyes drift to the old payphone wedged into a far corner of the room between ancient vending machines that promised "radical" soft drinks.

"He said sometime around 8pm, which means he's late." He proclaimed dismally. Mabel groaned and pressed her forehead against the window, then began to draw large, sloppy stars by moving her whole body up and down and side to side. Dipper fought down a grin- "Don't worry Mabel, lemme just go call the Mystery Shack on that phone over there."

Two steps away from picking up the receiver, the payphone began to chime. Dipper glanced back at Mabel, who regarded him with excited pleasure at this rare event. "Weird! Answer it Dipper! What if it's Grunkle Stan?"

"But what if it's not? What if it's for somebody else?" Dipper asked nervously, looking around the empty depot. Mabel's expression of glee faded slightly.

"Bro-bro, are you kidding me? Do you see anyone else here?" She gestured to the empty benches beside her. "Just answer it already!" She exclaimed, and Dipper looked at the clerk sitting in the ticket booth, who had been relatively quiet up until now. The old woman quirked a penciled eyebrow at him from behind her dime store romance and he shrugged.

"Okay! Fine! Here I go." And he lifted the phone off the hook. "Speedy Beaver Bus Depot, may I ask who's calling?" Mabel snorted and covered her mouth to quash her giggles. Dipper stuck his tongue out at her.

"Dipper! Took ya long enough, kid." It _was_ Stan on the other end.

"Grunkle Stan? Where are you? You were supposed to pick us up at the bus station at eight!" Immediately Dipper was squished between the payphone and his sister.

"HI GRUNKLE STAN!" Mabel shouted over Dipper's shoulder. "HOPE THIS RAIN ISN'T KILLING YOUR JOINTS!" Dipper could hear Stan laugh gruffly at this on the other end—he'd always had a soft spot for his sister.

"Hiya sweetie. Could be worse. I'm helping Soos patch some leaks in the roof of the Mystery Shack so I couldn't make it into town." To Stan "helping" probably went as far as barking orders at Soos to empty and replace buckets strategically placed around the shack to catch drips as they seeped through the old roof. "Ford's in bed with a fever too so I ALREADY have two overgrown brats to mind tonight." Dipper was caught between overwhelming feelings of love and disgust. The old man would never change.

"Well where does that leave us then?" He was honestly unsure of what Stan would say. He wouldn't put it past Stan to tell them that he expected them to sleep at the bus station that night.

In the end, he was pleasantly surprised.

"Well you can both drive now, can't you? I left the Caddy in the parking lot at Greasy's—just ask Lazy Susan or Wendy for the keys and you can drive on over."

The answer caught Dipper off guard. Mabel continued to lean on his back, and he dimly heard her ask what Stan was saying. "Uh-huh. Wow, thanks Stan, I didn't think you'd trust us with-"

"Forget about it! I know you drive like an old lady anyway. Besides, if anything happens to my baby I'll have you working off the repair bill for the rest of the summer." Stan laughed on the other end of the line. Dipper grimaced.

"Oh…Well, thanks, I guess. We'll see you at the shack then." He was having a hard time deciding whether Stan was kidding about the car situation. Mabel tapped him on the shoulder and he looked around.

 _GIVE ME THE PHONE. I WANT TO SAY HI._ She mouthed to him with exaggerated annunciation. He nodded at her and said, "Wait, Mabel's right here, she wants to say hi." And before Stan could say anything else, he pressed the receiver into his sister's hand and stepped back to the window to gather their belongings.

Mabel gabbed excitedly with Grunkle Stan in the background as Dipper looked in the direction of Greasy's diner. Something occurred to him just then. It was something Stan had said…

 _Just ask Lazy Susan or Wendy for the keys._

 _Wendy._

He stared at the lights casting their dim glow on Greasy's sign just across the road, illegible for the rain. The diner was open, amazingly, and the light from within the giant log-shaped eatery cast yellow reflections onto the wet parking lot where scant few cars sat. One at the far end of the lot _had_ to be Grunkle Stan's Cadillac. It barely fit into a single parking space.

"Dipper! This is amazing, I can't believe Stan is letting us drive his car!" Mabel snapped him out of his thoughts as she grabbed her own duffel, a hot pink number peppered with gemstones she had added with her trusty bedazzler years ago. Dipper grabbed his own bag—an old blue rucksack from the army navy surplus in Piedmont.

"The shack's not too far from Greasy's… I wouldn't count on Stan letting it out of his sight for too long. You ready?" He asked as he broke out a disposable rain poncho.

Mable eyed him up and down with mild amusement as she retrieved her own umbrella. "As I'll ever be—let's grab something at Greasy's before we head over. I'M STARRRVING please tell me you feel the same." She fixed Dipper with a deadpan expression, seemingly frozen. Dipper stared back at her, his eyes wide and lips drawn into a thin line. The chair underneath the clerk's wide bottom creaked as she leaned forward, watching them shrewdly over her novel.

Then the two of them were both spluttering into fits of giggles almost simultaneously, "I think you lost that one." Dipper laughed, pushing the door open for his sister.

"WHAT? No way, nuh uh. You cracked first. I saw you blink!" She protested, opening her umbrella with a 'pop'.

"We could always go back inside and ask that lady. Pretty sure she was watching us the whole time." Dipper said slyly. Mabel's eyebrows climbed her forehead as they fell in step together.

"Do my ears deceive me? My own brother calling for a judge on this one! You can't take my word for it?" Her incredulity was dripping with the same inauthentic contempt Dipper could sometimes trace in Stan when he knew his Grunkle was just messing with him.

"I swear, you and Stan are two of a kind!" He laughed, taking her arm as they crossed the road to the diner. Mable scoffed.

"I'll take that as a compliment lil' bro, thank _you_ very much! Put your hood on, Dippy Fresh, lest you soak your head." He tugged the plastic hood of the poncho over his hat and noticed for the first time just how drenched he was actually getting.

"Too late for my feet." He groaned, feeling water squish through his socks. "I'll never trust the weather channel again."

"I can't believe you did in the first place!" Mabel laughed as they entered the parking lot to Greasy's. Lightening flashed, momentarily revealing the expanse of the parking lot. On a dry day in summer, it would be hard packed dirt, but the rain had turned the whole place into a mud bath. "Wow, Waddles would LOVE this!" Mable shouted over a peal of thunder that shook the night. "Let's go!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Mabel began trudging directly across the flooded parking lot. Dipper lingered behind, watching warily as Mabel's feet disappeared through several inches of muddy water. Then he noticed the ground wasn't too bad off the right side of the lot, where more grass had the opportunity to grow without being squashed under the tires of cars parking at the diner. He swung wide of the giant mud puddle to the grassy shoulder and took his time navigating the smaller puddles between him and the safety of the sidewalk near the front door of Greasy's.

Meanwhile, Mabel had already entered the restaurant after shaking out her umbrella and cleaning her shoes off on the welcome mat at the top of the stairs. Through the windows, Dipper could see her squeal with excitement over someone he couldn't see until a very tall redhead suddenly tackled her.

His heart lurched in his chest and he all but forgot that he was standing in two inches of rainwater.

It was Wendy Corduroy.

In a perfectly uncomfortable moment of coincidence, lightning flashed just as she looked up and saw him standing outside. Their eyes met.

Thunder rolled ominously over his head and almost all at once, Dipper felt like he could just walk back to the bus depot and wait for Mable there. Then Grunkle Stan's voice came into his head.

 _Don't be chicken shit, Dipper._

His mouth set in a thin grimace of determination, he resumed his trek. In five strides he was at the steps to Greasy's and Wendy was back to serving the night owls of Gravity Falls. He opened the door and stepped inside.

As he removed his poncho and hung it beside the door, he looked around. It really _was_ a skeleton crew at the diner that evening. A couple of college kids took up a booth at the far end of the restaurant next to the strength tester, a lone patron sat at the counter reading the Gossiper, and Mabel was already cozied into the booth directly in front of where the Stanmobile sat outside. She waved frantically to him, as if his seat would be taken if he didn't hurry up. Dipper shuffled over, looking around to see where Wendy had gone.

She was behind the counter leaning against the side of the broken dessert case talking with the night shift cook. Suddenly her gaze slipped past the cook's shoulder and fell on him. Dipper jerked his eyes away and he sat down across from his sister.

"You're not gonna say hi to Wendy?" Mabel asked, concerned. He shrugged and immediately busied himself with the napkin dispenser at the end of the table.

"I don't know… She looks busy right now." He mumbled pathetically, trying for some semblance of nonchalance. Mabel could see him trying to catch another glimpse at the redhead without turning around, and the confused smile dissipated to an expression of pure bewilderment.

"Dipper wha—"

She was cut off when the girl in question appeared at their table side.

"'Sup dudes?" Wendy Corduroy asked, an easy smile touching her lips. Dipper looked up at her, nearly at a loss for words but for the small 'hello' he managed to get out between stuttering and stammering her name back at her. The mauve uniform dress fit her like a glove and her long auburn hair was swept up into a messy ponytail at the nape of her neck. Her graceful, slim fingers clutched two menus to her chest. Her eyes-

"When'd you start working at Greasy's?" Mabel cut in brightly, leaning forward in her seat. Dipper sighed appreciatively for her effort in lightening the mood. Wendy shrugged, handing them the menus.

"On and off since the school year started. I'm just filling in for Lazy Susan tonight—one of her cats wasn't doing so hot. Donald was puking all over her kitchen so they phoned me to pick up her shift." She leaned against the side of Dippers seat, looking at Mabel as she spoke. "I have Stan's keys over by the register—lemme go grab them after I take your order."

"Yaaay Wendy!" His twin cheered. Mabel grabbed up a menu, her face obscured as she opened it to read. Wendy turned to Dipper and smiled, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Hey Dip." She said softly. Those two words bade him to look up at her, though he had been avoiding eye contact directly. She seemed happy to see him, at least a little bit.

"H-Hey yourself." He stuttered obliquely. Dismay filled him, and his fingers automatically grabbed for his napkin and began to rip it into small pieces. They both looked away from each other, the moment broken.

"How was your school year?" She asked as she toyed with the pen in the pocket of her apron. She clicked the ballpoint a few times in rapid succession, and he felt a deep pang of longing for the old days.

"It was good, thanks." He nearly whispered, and wanted to say more. Instead, he cleared his throat and asked, "How are things at the Shack?"

Wendy shrugged. "Same as always." She sighed, "I've been helping Soos plan some of the exhibits for the next tourist's season. It's been a lot of fun." She turned to Mabel and grinned conspiratorially, "Stan's binging those old soaps again. He's got Ford hooked on them, too." Mabel laughed giddily. Dipper could already see forcing _both_ Grunkles into watching some chick flicks this summer. "Anyway, what can I get you?" Wendy asked expectantly.

"I'm DYING for waffles and hot chocolate. That stormocolypse outside has me hankerin' for some ye olde comfort food!" Mabel exclaimed, putting on a country drawl that sounded eerily like McGucket while waggling her eyebrows at Dipper. He couldn't help but laugh at the impression.

Before he could speak, Wendy said, "The usual?" She looked at him briefly with that unreadable expression again. Dipper could only nod. "Great, be back in a minute. With a new napkin." And with that, she was gone. Dipper frowned down at his hands, half-buried in a flurry of white confetti before him on the table.

Mabel immediately began grilling him.

"Ok Dipper, you guys seemed perfectly fine last summer so what the _heck_ is going on here?" She whispered as soon as Wendy was out of earshot. Dipper laughed nervously as he swept the shredded napkin into a neat pile. It was difficult to pretend things were normal under Mabel's unblinking stare of judgement. He hated being a twin sometimes- even as he opened his mouth to lie his sister cut him off cleanly, "Spill Bro-bro!" Dipper glared back at her, mostly annoyed that she had been able to call him out before he could make excuses.

"Fine, fine. Just… please, keep your voice down?" He whispered, looking past her to where Wendy was working. Mabel nodded, steepling her fingers over her mouth. The doctor was in, and Dipper her reluctant patient... He sighed deeply and racked his brain for the best place to start...

* * *

 **Ice Breaker**

Naoko Asakura

 _Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Thanks for reading!_


	2. The Record Player

**2.**

* * *

 _Last summer..._

Dipper shielded his eyes from the sun as he stepped out from under the canopy of the golf cart he borrowed from the Mystery Shack. The day was perfect—not uncomfortably warm as it had been last Saturday. The wind rippled through the pines, the movement creating a lazily swaying light show on the grass outside the Corduroy family's home. The sun reflected dully off the enormous two-man saw mounted above the entry.

The place had an abandoned look to it from the outside, but Dipper strode up to the front door and knocked loudly. There was a sound of furniture scraping followed by hurried stomping from inside.

Dipper jumped as the door swung wide. He was greeted by a boy about his age with messy, copper-colored hair in red flannel… Wendy's youngest brother. Although they were close to the same age, Dipper had never felt the desire to get to know him. In a way, hanging out with Wendy made him feel as if he were older than her brother.

The youngest Corduroy measured Dipper with his sleepy, green-eyed stare and picked at a bit of something crusted on his shirt. Dipper gave him a small, awkward smile.

"Heeeeey…" He raised his hand in an attempt to seem congenial. The boy said nothing, but a sly, knowing smile had begun to unfurl on his freckled face. "Uh…" Dipper paused to clear his throat, "Is your sister around?" He winced inwardly as his voice cracked on the word 'sister'. Wendy's brother chewed his lip to suppress a burst of laughter. Dipper grimaced in determination.

Just as he was about to reintroduce himself, the boy shouted:

"WENDY YOUR BOYFRIEND IS HERE!"

This was followed by the sudden and shocking arrival of Wendy herself as she launched herself on her little brother, who yelped shrilly.

"Hey Dipper, sorry about that! How's it hangin'?" She laughed, turning to him with her brother in a headlock. Dipper smiled, now genuinely amused at how easily she had turned the tables.

"I'm fine! More importantly, is he going to be okay?" He motioned to her brother, who was thrashing around wildly in the crook of Wendy's elbow. She seemed to make no effort to hold him.

"Eh." Wendy shrugged, "Just as long as he holds his tongue from now until THE END OF TIME." She punctuated her words by balling her free hand into a fist and doling out generous helpings of noogies on the younger redhead. Dipper laughed—she was incredible.

Inside, one of her other brothers shouted, "HEY TWERP, IT'S YOUR TURN TO PLAY WINNER." The youngest Corduroy groaned miserably. Wendy pushed the door open farther and Dipper stepped inside, kicking his shoes off as Wendy continued to tease her little brother.

"What was that? I think I need to clean my ears." She said innocently. The younger brother thrashed again to no avail.

"Uncle! Uncle! Wendy, come on! It's my turn to play!" He groaned, and she turned him loose. He stumbled and turned to look back at Dipper and Wendy. His flushed face cracked into a stubbly grin. "I'm gonna tell Dad you're upstairs making out." He teased. Dipper felt his face go hot and he diverted his eyes to the floor. Wendy only laughed.

"If you do that then I'm going to tell him where you stash all your nudie mags, and _then_ where will that leave us?" She challenged. One of her other brothers shouted at the two of them to stop bickering. Wendy's youngest brother flipped them both the bird, then bolted for the living room. Dipper sighed in relief, now that he was free from the unwanted attention.

"So glad I've only got one sibling sometimes." He murmured, smoothing a hand through his hair. He kicked his battered sneakers off and pushed them to the side of the front door with his foot.

"Aw, they're not _too_ bad, once you get to know them." Wendy laughed as she mounted the stairs, "Come on up, I'm dying to show you this thing." She took the steps two at a time and Dipper followed behind carefully. "So I was helping my Dad clean out the basement the other day—I haven't been down there in like, a decade because it's COMPLETELY cluttered with a ton of my Dad's lumberjacking junk."

They reached the top of the stairs Dipper looked beyond her to the door of her bedroom. Her contagious excitement was eclipsed a moment with the completely separate thrill of anticipation that ran through him every time he entered her room.

 _Come on, you've been over her._ He frowned, determined to believe this was so. He _did_ believe.

Wendy continued on, unaware, "…and there's a TON of random crap, but then I found _this_ stuff."

She opened the door and Dipper saw what she'd been building up to. In the middle of the floor, just in front of her bed sat a dusty old apple crate filled with records, and beside it sat a turntable that Dipper surmised could have been from the 70's. "Whoa, Wendy, this is so cool!" He exclaimed, returning the grin she gave him.

"Isn't it? I think it was my Mom's, back before she and my dad got married." Wendy said, sitting next to the crate in the middle of the floor. Dipper followed suit, leaning over the record player to get a better look at it.

It looked like something out of a movie—The outer shell was dark green plastic, and it looked more like a spy's briefcase than something that played music. Inside, the platter and the knob to adjust the speed were black against a beige background. "I've never used one before… Grunkle Ford has one in his study but I've never really given it a second thought." He murmured as he closed the lid and flipped it over. "...And I've never seen one this small, either. Does it play?"

He looked over at Wendy, who was leafing through the crate of records. "Yep. I've listened to a few of these since I pulled it out of the basement, but not all of them." She lifted a record out of the box to better examine the cover, but her eyes seemed to look back into her own childhood instead of at the album she held. A slow and bittersweet smile welled on her face.

Dipper swallowed hard. He felt the familiar ache of longing close around his heart in a vice grip. In all the years they had known each other, she wasn't very forthcoming about this part of her life. He wanted to do something for her- the desire to simply take her hand in his stunned him with its strength.

The moment passed as she handed the record over to him. "I'm gonna try to get through her whole collection by the end of the summer. Wanna join me?" She said as Dipper took it out of the sleeve gingerly. Ford had once mentioned that you had to be careful with records. They could scratch easily and if you _dropped_ one—

He nearly dropped it, fumbling it onto the spindle as a thrill cut through him. He looked over and saw Wendy was watching him with mild amusement. It was just like her to ask him in the smoothest, most casual way to share in an experience as meaningful and personal as listening through her late mother's— He was getting ahead of himself. _Alright, just calm down._ _No reason to get excited._ With a will, he restrained the stuttering babble that he could feel on his lips and instead took a deep breath to relax himself.

It came all the same.

"O-Of course! I mean—are you sure? I mean, your brothers probably might wanna hear some of this stuff, right? What about Tambry and the rest of your friends?" He winced as he listened to his own voice. It seemed no matter how hard he tried he couldn't downplay his feelings. She shrugged, leaning back against the foot of her bed.

"My brothers aren't really into this sort of thing. I'm pretty sure the only music they ever listen to is whatever my Dad likes… And these are _obviously_ not my Dad's." She placed a hand on the crate, patting it appreciatively. "Anyway, I'd rather it just be you and me." Her eyes slid over him as she turned away from her mother's record collection, and Dipper forgot himself for a moment as they sat in silence, simply looking at each other. Her cheeks flooded with color watching his face betray the admiration he felt for her. Wendy cleared her throat awkwardly and patted the spot beside her against the foot of the bed. "C'mere, let me show you how to set the needle on."

Dipper re-positioned himself next to her as she leaned forward to pull the record player so that it was sitting in front of them both. She walked him through the process pretty quickly, "You just have to be a little careful not to drag the needle or else you'll screw up the record but it's not hard to do. You try it." She set the arm back in its place. Dipper leaned over the little green turntable, inspecting the record... it was warped slightly with age.

He'd never the band before, had never even heard _of_ them. Somebody had written initials on an empty spot on the label in a cramped scrawl that bore a striking resemblance to Wendy's own. He gingerly lifted the tone arm and placed it down on the first groove. Then he waited. Nothing happened.

"It's not working… Shit, did I break it?" He looked back at Wendy, panic stricken. She held back a snort of laughter behind a hand and shook her head.

"Dude, you have to turn it on!"

"Oh." Dipper laughed sheepishly, his cheeks bright. He could've gotten drunk on all the tension. "Riiiiight…" He fumbled around for the switch and flipped it, bringing the plate spinning to life. The speaker sizzled with pops and cracks, and he settled back against the bed next to Wendy as the first song began to play out. She tangled a hand in her red tresses, and he thought it seemed her entire being was focused on the music. She leaned forward just a bit.

"I've listened to this one a few times now, actually." Wendy confessed thoughtfully. Dipper stole a glance at her and caught her looking at him. She beamed. "Pretty good, huh?"

The dust motes drifted lazily through the light from her bedroom window, and sitting on the floor in a patch of summer sun put a warm, sleepy feeling in his body that he welcomed completely. She settled in beside him, and he allowed himself the comfort of her nearness, even moving a bit closer so that they were touching shoulders.

It was pretty good.

* * *

 **Ice Breaker**

Naoko Asakura

 _Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Thanks for reading!_


	3. Flood

**3.**

* * *

 _Back in Greasy's..._

"I KNEW it." Mabel declared through a mouthful of waffles. Dipper glanced at her joylessly as he pushed food around his plate with his fork. He had been making small, rough cube shapes from his mashed potatoes during the course of his story.

"What do you mean?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"That crush you had on her when we were twelve never really went away." Mabel sister explained, flipping her hair so it wouldn't get in her food. Dipper's jaw dropped at this accusation. As he struggled to speak, she continued, "Every relationship you've ever had at home has had a shelf life of ten months. TOPS." He winced, well aware of the fact. None of the handful of relationships he'd had survived to the end of the school year.

"I guess you did date Pacifica last summer..." She trailed, chewing thoughtfully, "...In _my_ opinion, that hardly even counts." She paused and sipped her hot chocolate calmly. "I'm not wrong about Wendy though, am I?"

Dipper could have crawled in a hole and died, but for lack of any such escape he could only bury his face in his hands. Mabel heard him mutter something into his palms and leaned forward to better hear him.

"What?"

"I said I guess not." He repeated tersely, glaring at her through his fingers. "Mabel, can we talk about _this_ later? She's _right_ over there." He implored her in a harsh whisper, motioning with his head towards where Wendy was pouring coffee for the group of kids her own age. She was chatting them up, laughing at some story about the last house party they all went to.

Mabel turned back to look at her brother. Whatever had happened between Dipper and Wendy went far beyond the simple one-sided crush he harbored for her all these years. His gaze lingered on Wendy over her shoulder, and in his eyes Mabel could see longing and of all things, bitterness. She put her fork down.

"Dipper..." She whispered. Seeing him like that, Mabel felt helpless- this wasn't the sort of problem a girl could fix with yarn and glitter glue. He refocused on her, his expression unchanging.

"Please, Mabel. Later."

Mabel chewed her lip, wanting to say more—wanting to know more. Instead she grabbed her cocoa again and drank deeply, watching as rain poured over Gravity Falls. It was a wonder the town hadn't been flooded.

* * *

 **Ice Breaker**

Naoko Asakura

 _Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Thanks for reading!_


	4. The Caddy

**4.**

* * *

Dipper waited while Mabel and Wendy were chatting idly at the cash register. She rang them up and he could've sworn she only charged them for a couple of coffees. Then she came around the counter and scooped Mabel up into a bear hug.

"Let's hang soon, kay?" Mabel begged. The younger girl squeaked as she was squeezed, making both of them erupt in fits of giggles.

"DUH, dude. I got an apartment downtown. Come over whenever and we'll go thrifting!" Wendy said, beaming... From his place behind Mabel, Dipper couldn't help but smile as well. It was so like her to downplay the independence she treasured so much, and the apartment was something to be proud of.

"YES! Thrift shop! Thrift shop!" Mabel chanted, pumping her fist. Wendy laughed, ruffling the younger girl's hair affectionately. "Alright gang, I'll go grab the Stanmobile. Be ready out front or you're swimming home!" Mabel spun Stan's keychain around her finger once for effect before grabbing her umbrella and ducking out into the storm.

Dipper could have killed her then. She had left them alone on purpose.

Well, not _exactly_ alone. The cook was still there, and even though the college kids had long since finished their food, they were still hanging around. He looked down at his shoes, still soaking wet-

"Dipper..."

He looked up and into Wendy's eyes for the first time that night. Her smile was only skin deep and it made his hands curl into fists in his coat pockets. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears that _he_ had put there.

"W-Wendy, I-"

Then in the middle of the dinner with _all these people_ around, she stepped forward and gathered him into a fierce embrace and he couldn't even remember what he was just going to say... probably something stupid. Probably something trite in an attempt to pretend that _nothing_ had happened. Whatever it had been was long gone at the sensation of her body against his. Even the regret waned, ever so slightly.

His hands came out of his pockets and around her body, pulling her even tighter. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and whispered something just loud enough for him to make out over the steady cacophony of rain hitting the roof of the diner.

 _God, I missed you._

Outside Greasy's now, Dipper sighed and listened to the storm, a roar that blocked out every sound but the pounding of his heart. He gave himself over to the memories of last summer. Sitting in Wendy's bedroom, sharing the rare experience of her mother's record collection, nights watching terrible horror movies… Mostly, the other stuff.

It was then that Mabel pulled up in the Stanmobile. She tapped the horn once and he hurried to throw their bags in the back before sliding in beside her, careful not to get too much mud on the floor of the old Caddy. He buckled himself in and they began the drive to the Mystery Shack at a snail's pace.

The car was silent.

Mabel usually enjoyed the radio when she drove, but tonight it remained untouched. Moments went by with her leaning over the steering wheel peering intensely through the windshield as the wipers just barely did their job.

"Are you gonna continue your story?" She asked suddenly. Dipper had anticipated this. Mabel wasn't one to let something like this alone. Still, it was difficult to begin again.

"Yeah, last summer, Wendy and I…" He stopped short. His entire body flushed hotly as the memory of her embrace in the diner forced its way through again. "We sort of had a thing." He finally blurted, for lack of a better way of putting it.

"Did you guys kiss?" Mabel asked. Her voice had that barely restrained giddiness that was just _so_ Mabel that Dipper had to sigh.

"Well yeah, but—"

"Dipper that's so AWESOME! Wendy's your dream girl! Way to go my man, makin' it happen!" She exclaimed, taking a hand off the steering wheel to go in for a high five. Dipper stared at it blankly. "Bro-bro do _not_ leave me hanging here!" He groaned and gave her hand an uninspired tap with his own.

"Thanks, I guess." He murmured, then turned away to look out the window- anywhere else. The oppressive silence was back.

"Sooooooo..." Mabel began again, "Are you guys like, dating now? Like boyfriend, girlfriend?"

Dipper turned back and regarded his sister's excitement, not sure how much he should say. In the end, he settled for the easiest answer: "No." He watched as Mabel's expression morphed with each passing street light. The orange glow of the arc-sodiums painted her troubled features in odd shadows.

"Okay, but if you guys _FINALLY_ smooched then why are you so unhappy?" She asked, her voice was laced with concern.

"You're going to be mad."

"Try me."

Dipper sighed. "Okay then. Wendy and I... That did happen last summer."

"Right, after you and Pacifica broke up."

Dipper sighed and shook his head, his bangs getting damp from the window's condensation. Here it was. "Nope."

The car slowed to a halt. Mabel put the gearshift into park and turned to him, her arms folded. He _really_ needed that hole now... Being trapped in a stationary car with his sister's level stare was not the way he wanted to spend the evening.

"Seriously? Pacifica obviously doesn't know, otherwise she would have told me... _Jesus_ , Dipper she's like one of my best friends! How could you be so stupid? What does Wendy have to say about it?" Mabel ranted.

Each valid point felt like a punch in the gut, "I KNOW." Dipper cut in defensively before she keep going. The same brown eyes he had were staring back at him wide with anger, and he could do nothing more than turn away to stare out the window into the inky night. "I don't need a lecture." He muttered sullenly. Mabel rolled her eyes and turned to look out the front windshield. No cars were out driving this night, so being parked in the middle of the road wasn't that big a deal.

It took a minute to collect herself. "Look, I'm sorry if I jumped down your throat but I have to be mad for my friend. That doesn't mean I don't care. Everyone goofs." Mabel laughed softly and shifted into drive again, "Who _knows_ how many times I've screwed things up?" She glanced over, then at the road. The typically dark circles under her brother's eyes looked worse in the shadows of the Stanmobile, especially paired with his wrinkled brow and hunched shoulders. A wave of guilt rolled over her and she sighed, "I'm sorry... I just hate seeing you this way!"

After a long moment, Dipper sighed. "I know… Sorry Mabel. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, too. I just didn't know how to bring it up."

"Don't apologize to me, the one you should be apologizing to is Pacifica." Mabel retorted. Again, she hit the nail on the head, "Will you tell me the rest?" Her fingers tightened around the steering wheel as they hugged the curve past Gleeful's Auto Sales. The permanent sale banners around the car lot tossed in the fierce wind.

"I don't know. It's a long story." Dipper laughed hollowly, still looking out the window. Lightning flashed and he caught a glimpse of the billboard for the Mystery Shack. It wasn't a very long way at all.

"For my dear brother, I've got the time in the world." Mabel sighed, flexing her fingers on the steering wheel. They pulled onto the long driveway that led to their Grunkles' home. "We can have a sleepover and you can tell me _everything_."

* * *

Wendy watched as the Caddy pulled out of the parking lot. The red taillights disappeared into the night and she felt a tightness in her throat that promised eventual tears.

"You ok?" Joe, the night cook came to her side, gently resting a large hand on her shoulder. She turned to look up at him and he grimaced at the way her green eyes glittered. Worse was the wavering smile she wore- it was full of regret.

"Yeah—got any cigarettes?"

Wendy pulled the oversized flannel tighter over her waitress' uniform as she dodged under an awning around the back wall of Greasy's. Gravity Falls was oddly cold for the time of year. She fumbled for the lighter in her pocket and sparked the cigarette she held in her trembling lips. Once it was lit, she was plunged into the darkness sandwiched between the diner and the forest's edge again. The thunder rolled overhead and she shivered, her thoughts racing.

She'd seen him out in the storm. That split second glimpse of his face bathed in the cold flash of lightning was all it had taken to undo a year of mental preparation.

 _He was wearing one of those dorky plastic rain ponchos_

Wendy choked out a laugh that sounded more like a sob as she breathed a plume of smoke out into the dark. Even as their eyes met, she knew that all that time apart hadn't mattered one bit. She couldn't help but think back to how it all began...


	5. The Birthday

**6.**

Wendy had been proud of her natural ability to navigate the uncomfortable waters of puberty- a difficult thing to do in a small town, with a tightly knit circle of friends who were all just beginning to realize what they could be to each other. Robbie had been the first guy in her group she had ever actually dated, and theirs had been a minor breakup in the grand-scheme.

It was a few years after that, she realized that the old crowd was definitely _not_ a dating pool.

* * *

 _Summer, 2014._

Robbie and Tambry had been going through a rough patch _right_ before her seventeenth birthday party. Still they had all snuck out to the far side of the lake for a bonfire. She could remember how stressed Thompson had been watching the couple avoid each other like the plague.

"Don't sweat it. I'll go talk to Robbie, you talk to Tambry, kay?" She motioned to the girl perched on a fallen log positioned near the fire pit. Thompson nodded and the two of them split up. Wendy wandered over to Robbie, who had the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up, staring balefully into the fire.

"Dude, you're ruining my birthday." Wendy mocked peevishly as she came to his side. He turned his glare on her wordlessly and she laughed in disbelief. "God, I'm just kidding Robbie! Seriously though, are you okay?" She put her hand on his shoulder, and his stony expression dissolved into one more contrite.

"Sorry Wendy… I know we're both being pretty shitty." He muttered.

"It's cool. Everything okay?"

Robbie scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Not really. We've been at each other's throats all week. She never stops looking at that stupid phone… How am I supposed to get through to her?"

"Aw, come on, Tambry's always been like that. It's not some big surprise. That's what all this is about? Looking at you two, you'd think somebody got murdered." Wendy laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. Robbie laughed thinly, peering at her nervously from inside his hood of his sweatshirt.

"There is _something_ else, I guess." He offered after a moment's pause. Wendy raised an eyebrow. "I don't really wanna talk about it here though. Could we like, go somewhere else?"

Wendy's heart fluttered uneasily and her eyes passed quickly from where Thompson and Tambry sat to where Nate and Lee were standing on the lakeshore. "Sure, let's go."

Shortly, she found herself standing a little ways into the forest that lined the edge of the lake, watching Robbie pace back and forth. He glanced at her, and she gave him a look she hoped seemed more sympathetic than puzzled. Her heart leapt in her throat when she heard a shriek of laughter from the nearby fire pit.

"Are you sure you don't just wanna go back…?"

"No, Wendy, you need to hear this." He demanded in that all-too-intense Robbie manner. He suddenly stopped pacing and crossed the short distance to her. "Most of our fights have been about you."

Wendy was astonished. "What?"

"Nobody else knows, but it's gotten so bad that I think I may break up with her. Tambry's jealous of you, Wendy."

"I don't—what are you talking about?" She had a really _bad_ feeling about where this was going. Robbie took a step closer, and he was _too close_. "Robbie—"

He placed a hand on her bare arm, and her stomach turned in panic as his callused thumb caressed her skin. His eyes were hard, filled with determination as he pulled her to him and crushed his lips to hers.

It lasted all of two seconds.

"GET OFF!" Wendy cried desperately. She shoved him away hard enough to send him stumbling a few steps. She folded her arms around herself and moved away from him. "God, Robbie, what the fuck?"

"I just couldn't forget you after we broke up." He said in a soft voice. He approached her again and she moved further away, "Wendy, if we could just… I'd do anything to be with you again" He choked, and he sounded pathetic enough to extinguish her fear.

"I can't believe I'm hearing this." She turned from him and made for the bonfire again. She heard the dry crackle of dead leaves behind her and she whirled on him, stabbing his chest with her finger.

"Tambry's my best friend, Robbie, and I haven't forgotten that you tried to use _mind control_ on me. What makes you think that any of this was okay? Did it _seem_ like I was asking for it?"

Robbie quailed under her blazing green stare, at a loss for words. Wendy scoffed and shook her head.

"Yeah, I thought so."

She turned and walked away.

Wendy came to the edge of the forest just out of the light of the bonfire. Her rage cooled to thick disappointment when she saw that Thompson was alone and that Tambry had left.

"What happened?" She asked as she sat down beside him. It seemed Lee and Nate had also fled the scene. Wendy smiled ruefully to herself—Thompson was never one to leave a girl high and dry.

He wrung his thick hands nervously in his lap as he spoke, "Well, a little after you and Robbie went off, Tambry noticed and she… Y'know, she kind of got the wrong impression."

Wendy sighed and fished her phone out of her back pocket. She didn't have to read all fifteen messages to know that Tambry had written her a legit novel clarifying just _how_ pissed off she was.

"Great." She muttered, her lips pulling into a grim smile. Thompson frowned at her worriedly.

"Are you gonna be ok?" He asked gently. Wendy shrugged- between her encounter with Robbie and the backlash from Tambry, she honestly didn't know. Thompson and the bonfire swam hazily in her teary vision.

"I'll figure it out. I think this party's over though. Wanna call it a night?" She laughed, and it was hard to keep all the anger and frustration out of her voice. Thompson nodded silently and they stood together.

"I could drive you home." He offered softly, holding her green flannel out to her. She took it and felt a wave of gratitude for him as she slipped it over her tank top. Thomson held out her hat as well, Dipper's old, faded ball cap was a little stained and the canvas a little frayed on the bill, but still her luckiest charm. She suddenly wanted to see him more than anything else.

 _Maybe if I'd been wearing it..._

She took the hat and placed it on her head backwards. "Thanks—actually though, could you swing me by the Mystery Shack? I left something over there and I can walk home no problem."

Later on, as Thompson drove the winding road to the Shack, Wendy checked the thread of messages she had exchanged with Dipper again.

 _hey you awake?_

 _Yeah, is everything okay?_

 _kind of… passing by your place. mind if I come over?_

 _Not at all! :D_

 _cool dude see ya_

The clock on her phone read five past midnight, and she conjured the comforting image of Dipper Pines pacing the floor of the Mystery Shack's gift shop as the rest of his family was tucked away in bed.

Wendy spotted Dippers' lanky form stood on the porch of the shack, shielding his eyes against the headlights of the beat up van as they pulled into the driveway. She turned and hugged the stocky boy, "Thanks friend." Her words were muffled against the swell of his chest.

"Just trying to hold the crew together. Happy birthday." He laughed and gave her a big squeeze.

They said their final goodnight and Wendy slipped out of the car, shutting the door behind her. She didn't look back as she crossed the parking lot to Dipper. They met each other halfway.

"Heeey." She somehow managed to give him a comical once over in spite of her shaken state. He was typically scruffy—the shock of hair over his birthmark somehow even more unruly, he wore plain navy pajama bottoms and a white t-shirt under a weathered denim jacket they had picked up at a garage sale a few weeks back.

"Hey. Wanna go up?" Dipper asked, motioning to her favorite spot on the roof. She nodded, slipping her hand into the crook of his elbow as they fell in step. It was a habit she had cultivated shortly after he hit his growth-spurt.

Once they were settled in on the roof, she told her story. When she got to the part when Robbie forced that kiss on her, Dipper choked on his Pitt Cola.

"Wait—are you serious?" He coughed. Wendy patted him on the back and nodded gloomily. Dipper's face was a thunderhead. "Wendy, I swear next time I see him I'll… I'll…" He stopped short, floundering. His voice broke a little and he cast her an agonized glance. Watching him made the tears swim in Wendy's eyes again.

"Aw, Dipper, don't worry about that. I'm okay, aren't I?" She shifted closer to him and slipped an arm around his waist under his jacket. Somehow it felt better to pretend she was consoling him instead of the other way around.

It was at precisely that moment her phone rang.

Answering Tambry's phone call was one of those mistakes a person makes in the small hours of the morning, when rational thought and judgment take their leave. Wendy could barely get a word in edgewise as her best friend unloaded on her viciously.

… _And you_ _better_ _not show your face where I can see it or I swear to god I'm going to scratch your_ _eyes_ _out for what you've done._

That was basically the gist of things.

Before sadness even, cold rage surged through Wendy as she listened to Tambry. The worst thing of all was that she couldn't even defend herself before the phone went dead. It took all her willpower not to just throw her phone as far as she could off the roof of the Mystery Shack.

Dipper put a hand over hers, and she loosened her white-knuckle grip on the phone. "Don't do something you'll regret" He took it from her and turned it off.

"I think I've already hit my quota for shitty decisions today." She laughed bitterly and swigged her soda, wishing for a moment it was a beer instead. "Preeetty sure I've ruined a few friendships tonight."

"You were just doing what any friend would do, not that _he_ deserved it... Wendy, you're one of the kindest, most genuine people I know, and if Tambry doesn't know that..." Her ire faded while she listened to him and the tears she had been holding back finally fell. "Oh no—Wendy, no no no, don't cry!" He pleaded, panic-stricken. Wendy leaned into Dipper's side as she wept, her fingers hitching in the fabric of his shirt. He sat stock still, probably nervous as all get-out by this new situation, but it didn't even occur to Wendy in her state. Dipper was a positive force in her life and for all that meant she needed a positive in that moment. She needed him.

That's why it was so surprising when he _did_ move, his arms came around and he gathered her to himself fully. She was vaguely aware of his hand, trembling with nervous inexperience as it carefully smoothed over her hair.

It made her cry even harder.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Thanks for reading! I'll be working on some edits of the posted chapters for the next bit. Keep on the lookout for new material though!


	6. Portland

**6.**

Things were different after that night. For one thing, Wendy's gang was officially split until further notice. She tried to avoid the usual haunts where she _knew_ an encounter with Robbie or Tambry was only a matter of time, which was pretty easy considering they spent most of their time downtown at the arcade. She'd see Nate, Lee and Thompson on occasion, but the events of her birthday weighed heavily. The rest of the summer should have been filled with lonely days and awkward moments with those who still thought of her as their friend.

Surprisingly enough though, the rest of her summer had turned out pretty great... Dipper had seen to that.

Of course, he had always been her copilot- always down for anything, whether it was going on a run to the local thrift store or playing a merciless round of fluffy bunny against Mabel in the Mystery Shack's kitchen. Even so, Wendy could tell he was really going the extra mile to be around for her. They had gotten to a point that summer where she could just show up at the Shack without plan or invitation... She could find him up on the roof with a couple of chilled cans of soda, a book and a battered old radio, as if he knew she'd be coming over.

He'd even listen to her vent frustrations about living at home, or even more embarrassing, her dreams of moving to Portland after high school.

Wendy could remember how hard her heart beat when she had confessed that little dream aloud for the first time. It must have been at least two in the morning, because they'd been barely watching late night infomercials in the living room at the Mystery Shack.

"Do you ever think about moving out of Gravity Falls?" Dipper asked. He grabbed a handful of chips from the bowl on the floor and chewed them slowly, watching as a finely manicured hand presented an opulent dagger on the television.

Wendy chewed her lip as she watched the knife turn lazily on its mirrored pedestal. Of course she had... "Promise you won't laugh." Even as she commanded this she couldn't decide whether she should actually tell him or not. She looked over and felt her ears burn when she caught him watching her.

"Why would I?" He asked.

"I don't know. I guess I just feel weird about it..." Wendy trailed, looking down at her hands curled in her lap. "I wanna move to Portland." She reluctantly looked up to see his reaction.

He was beaming. "That's awesome! Wait- really, why would I laugh about that?"

Wendy shrugged helplessly, "I don't know man... The older I get, the weirder it sounds; wanting to move to a place just for the sake of being there." She took some chips but held them without eating them, "I don't know what I want to do with my life after high school... Hell, I don't even know if I even _want_ to go to college, but I _don't_ want to be stuck here playing Mom and doing the same old..." She stopped short and realized she was falling into the habit of venting to Dipper about things she would rather have kept to herself. "Sorry." She whispered roughly before shoving the entire handful of chips into her mouth all at once. Anything would do to keep herself from talking anymore.

"Please don't be sorry." Dipper replied softly. Wendy drew her knees to her chest and stared at the floor in front of her. She heard him shift- felt his arm tentatively slip around her shoulders. "You _should_ move there if you want to." Even as he spoke, she thought of her future in Gravity Falls- her potential fate as another local trapped in a dead-end, taking care of her father and brothers for the rest of her life and never having the chance to go it alone.

"I guess I'm just scared." Wendy muttered, peering up at Dipper's face from her spot in the crook of his arm. He was just a little taller than her, now. She smiled bittersweet at this turning of tables for what seemed like the millionth time that summer. Who knew that the fearless Wendy Corduroy who had once flown through the sky on a giant flying eyeball into the proverbial gates of hell could be so afraid of her own future?

Well, _that_ shit came easy. This, not so much.

Dipper sighed, "Sometimes I wish I could get Blendin's time tape back so that could see how everything turns out, but even then where we are in the future doesn't matter half as much as how we're going to get there..." He gave Wendy a reassuring squeeze. "You can do anything, Wendy... No matter what happens or where you go, I'll _always_ be in your corner."

Her heart swelled as she listened to him and she couldn't help but return his embrace ten-fold, laughing as the air rushed out of his lungs from the force of her hug. "Jeez what are you, a motivational speaker? You're embarrassing me!" She wailed into his shirt. The force of her tackle sent them both to the floor.

"What, you think I _wanted_ to watch the 3am knife show on the shopping network?" He laughed breathlessly.

Wendy scoffed as she propped her chin on his chest, "Hey, I _like_ the knife show... I happen to record it every night!"

"..Maybe it's not so bad after all."

"I was even going to get you _that_ one for Christmas next year!" She exclaimed, gesturing up at the screen arbitrarily. The knife on display appeared to have three sinuous blades all engraved with 90's tribal motif jutting out of a handle shaped like a serpentine dragon.

Just as they both looked up at the screen, the manicured hand appeared and pressed a hidden button which revealed a tinier knife concealed in the handle.

They both began to laugh uncontrollably until Dipper hushed them both. "Don't wanna wake everyone." He whispered. The pair of them sat up and Wendy pushed herself into the crook of his arm again. Dipper made a small, surprised sound and she turned to look up at him.

"This cool?" She put on her best casual front, but her heart tripped nervous beat in her chest, as if this wasn't the same boy who years ago, she had rejected for being too young... But it was the same Dipper Pines, and the way he blushed and stumbled over his words was so very much _him_.

"Y-yeah, totally." He murmured nervously, as if he hadn't been the one who had put his arm around her to begin with. Wendy turned back to the TV and fought to suppress the thrill in her heart that nearly came out in a bubble of shy laughter.

"Thanks Dip." She said, grabbing the all-but-forgotten bowl of chips on the floor. She offered it to Dipper, and he took a few.

"Don't mention it..."

* * *

"Wow, I had no idea _any_ of this was going on."

Dipper cringed at his sister's tone and knew she was upset for not hearing more about this earlier. It was true, they shared most things, and Dipper considered her his best friend, but... "It _still_ isn't my place to share what was going on back then." He replied sternly. "Don't tell anyone about that thing with Robbie, okay? It's in the past."

"Duuuh. Dipper, who do you think I am?" Mabel nudged him and he _did_ feel a little guilty. Even after everything that had happened between them, he was still protective of Wendy... Maybe even more so. He sighed and pulled a pillow over his face.

The two of them were back in the attic of the Mystery Shack, sitting cross-legged on Dipper's bed. The rain poured down the triangular window, filling the room with quiet white-noise.

"Sorry Mabel..." His voice came muffled from behind the pillow.

Mabel was unflappable as she shrugged, "It's cool, so keep going! I'm all ears."

Dipper sat up and fumbled with the corner of the pillowcase, staring down at the soft cotton as he spoke, "Ever since that night... Her birthday that year, we got a lot closer. I mean, we've always been really close friends, but I guess I never realized how much she kept to herself."

"When did things change?" Mable's brow creased in worry. Guilt wriggled its way into her heart, prying into his affairs like this. Here was a side of her twin that she knew she shouldn't see... But innocent entitlement to everything that was his had opened up an old wound in his heart that couldn't be mended by her presence alone. Mabel waived these thoughts away. He needed her now, or else why would she be sitting here?

Dipper shrugged. "Maybe the whole thing with Robbie and Tambry made her feel like she couldn't really go to anyone else. I wanted to help her... Be with her whenever I could."

"You must've wanted more than that though."

Mable's words brought a flush to his face and an expression so raw that she had to look away, out the window.

A moment passed.

"We had a car picnic, one day." He began suddenly, making her jump.

"A car picnic?"

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	7. The Car Picnic

**7.**

It had all started that day.

Wendy rolled up to the Mystery Shack in her Dad's beat-up SUV, tapping out a quick "shave and a haircut" on the horn. Five minutes later, Dipper was in the passenger seat pulling his seat belt on.

"Whaddya wanna do?" Wendy asked, stifling laughter as she watched him struggle with the manual window on his side. She navigated the car around an RV packed with tourists. The signs Soos planted along the main road had lured them in with the promise of " _UNBELIEVABLE SIGHTS AND SPECTACLES"_.

Dipper finally won out against the crank on the side of the door. He propped his elbow on the window's edge and let the cool midday breeze soothe his aching eyelids. He had spent the evening prior burning the midnight oil with a book on cryptids from Ford's library. He yawned. "Wanna grab lunch?"

Wendy nodded, fingers drumming on the steering wheel as she waited to make a turn. "Sounds like a plan..." A thought crossed her mind, making her smile wistfully. "Hey, we could do a car picnic!"

"What's that?"

Wendy laughed, "Seriously? Okay, now we _have_ to have one."

A car picnic wasn't anything particularly special. Something that Wendy's Dad used to do with her and her brothers when she was a little girl. They would grab takeout from Greasy's, then drive to the park or the lake. Manly Dan would pop the trunk and fold down the back seats, making room for the whole Corduroy brood to pile in for a noonday meal.

"I dunno dude, he just wasn't about regular picnics I guess." She shrugged as she explained it to Dipper. They were sitting in the Greasy's parking lot, ready to go partake of the old Corduroy tradition.

"So my man, where to?" Wendy asked, flexing her fingers on the steering wheel.

Dipper pondered the question a moment, "Definitely not the Mystery Shack. Too many people there."

"Okay then, no Mystery Shack. If we're talking places we _don't_ want to go, I'm not into the lake." Wendy knew via Thompson that her old gang would be there and she did _not_ want to open that can of worms.

"Your house?" Dipper offered, and Wendy scoffed and shook her head.

"If I bring this food anywhere near my brothers we won't see a single bite." A thought occurred to her then, "Lookout Point?"

The suggestion was past her lips before she could stop herself... Dipper's reaction did not surprise her in the least. His flushed cheeks and the way he nervously drummed his fingers on the window edge said it all... Suggesting Lookout Point had _so_ many strings attached to it. "Uh... Sure, if it's okay with you."

He was beginning to make _her_ nervous.

"Oh c'mon Dip, lighten up. It's not like we're going up there to make out!" Wendy laughed a little too hard and turned the key in the ignition. As she pulled out onto the road, she glanced over at Dipper- he was leaning out the window again. The deep crimson that stained his cheeks betrayed his quiet, stoic expression.

Dipper's mind raced.

It was easy to put her on a pedestal. When he was twelve, she had dazzled him- she was almost an obsession, the very thought of her kept him up at night. She was beautiful, kind and above all things, _the_ coolest person he'd ever met.

So what had changed between then and now?

Well... This _was_ the most time they'd ever spent together. She'd never really confided in him before, either. Maybe she never would have, if things with Tambry and Robbie hadn't gone so far south.

He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling an odd mixture of guilt and nervous joy. Part of him was glad things had turned out the way they did.

He could never admit that.

Dipper looked over at Wendy again, who was now focused on the road ahead of them. She had swept the dim fire of her hair up into a careless ponytail that left the graceful pale curve of her neck exposed. They passed through a tunnel of trees and the dappled sunlight danced on her bare shoulders. His hand twitched restless in his lap.

Now, more than ever before... They were friends.

Just a couple of friends going out for a drive up to the Lover's Lane of Gravity Falls.

As per it's nickname, "Makeout Point", most people parked on the bluff in the twilit hours of the evening. So at two o'clock in the afternoon, Lookout Point was empty.

Once she had parked them in the shade, Wendy got out and popped the trunk. The two of them folded the back seats down and moved to the roomier part of the car. They sat cross-legged on with their meal piled between them on a blanket they had spread out, and Wendy left the radio tuned to a local oldies station... The low, sweet music was a welcome distraction.

"Does anyone _ever_ come here in the daytime though?" Dipper wondered as he unwrapped his lunch.

"We're here." Wendy offered as she grabbed a few fries from the bag sitting between them. "I used to come up here with my school friends once in a while." She busied herself digging around for napkins. She found them and offered one to Dipper which he took gratefully. "I came here with Robbie that one time."

"You guys didn't do anything though." Dipper put in.

"Yeah, we didn't. Thank god." Wendy agreed. The less said about that relationship, the better. She laughed sheepishly, "I kind of wish you didn't know so much about my love life- I feel like a bit of a jerk."

Dipper shrugged, "It's not that big a deal, everybody 's got a past."

Wendy arched an eyebrow, "How 'bout you?" She asked, her mouth curling into a sly grin... Dipper squirmed under her inquisitive stare, silent but obviously hiding something. "C'mon! I've over shared- make me feel like less of an a-hole and spill."

"Okay, okay, fine. I've had two girlfriends in my entire life so far." He confessed, and Wendy's eyes widened.

"At the same time?" She laughed.

"Wendy, this is me we're talking about here. What do _you_ think?"

She raised her hands, "Hey man, you never know- I still kinda have this feeling you'll be breaking hearts someday." She settled back and finished her burger, crumpling up the wax paper and tossing it in the pile between them. "So what were they like?"

Dipper shifted uncomfortably and began clearing away the empty food wrappers. " My first girlfriend was back in seventh grade. It wasn't a big deal, we dated for two weeks after the Halloween dance and then we split up. She's a friend of Mabel's so we still hang out..." He paused, thoughtful, "Turns out we both got _really_ awkward when we were going out. I guess we weren't cut out for each other that way. She's cool though, you'd like her."

Wendy nodded, chewing the last of her food. "That's pretty typical of middle school relationships though. I had a lot of guy friends back then as soon as we all hit puberty the shit hit the fan- C'est la vie!" She swigged from a can of soda before continuing, "Next one?"

Dipper faltered... His last relationship had been pretty complicated. _Really_ complicated, for him. "It didn't end well." He still felt a lot of guilt over how they had broken up.

Wendy felt awful- His voice was thick with regret. "I'm sorry, Dipper, you don't have to talk about it." She offered, but he sighed and shook his head.

"I was the one who messed it all up."

His last girlfriend had been his assigned partner on a project in history class... A cute redhead. She had even looked a bit like Wendy, but that was where the similarities had ended. She wanted to do their project on the history of dark watcher sightings. She was one hundred percent sure she had had seen at least one real UFO. On his first visit to her house, they'd poured over photos of her last family vacation to Roswell. Months passed. The group project had ended, but they were still meeting up in the library stacks after school, doing a very different kind of research. It was kind of spooky, how good they were together. He really liked her- almost could have said he _loved_ her.

 _"_ _Just_ _not as much as you like that girl you can't shut up about. It's always Winnie said this, Winnie did that last summer."_

 _"Her name's Wendy."_

What a thing to say in that moment, when he could've- _should've_ said anything else. The memory of that final fight would wake him in the odd hours of night for months after.

The more he had told his girlfriend about his summers in Gravity Falls, the more Wendy's name came up. Being open about his past feelings for her was proof that he could be mature about his past heartaches... And hey, maybe talking about it even helped ease the pain of the rejection a little bit. He hadn't realized just how much it had weighed on his girlfriend. Not until the end, anyway.

The catalyst for their breakup had been a photo of Wendy he had tacked up on the wall in his bedroom. As soon as she had seen it and it became impossible for her not to compare herself. He spent subsequent nights awake til the small hours, wondering where he'd failed... why he couldn't let go of his feelings for the older girl.

If Wendy knew that much, he'd die of shame. "Yeah, I _don't_ really want to talk about it. Sorry." He said quietly, avoiding her eyes- if he elaborated, she would _know_ that after all this time he...

"You can't blame yourself for everything." Wendy said, reaching out and patting his leg. "You're too young to get so down on yourself. I bet you have a ton of great memories from back then, and as time goes on, she will too."

"Maybe." Dipper sighed, "I hope so."

There was a long silence while Wendy watched him, lost in his own thoughts. She frowned, feeling a little guilty for bringing the whole thing up. Talk about a mood killer.

 _Shit_.

A moment later, her face lit up, "Dude, I found a bunch of cool tapes at that thrift store we got your jacket at the other day! You wanna pick one to listen to?"

"Yeah, sure!"

The crease in Dipper's brow smoothed as he inspected each cassette like a rare gemstone. Wendy smiled in relief. Thank god she'd been able to shift off of the touchy subject of his love life.

After a moment's hesitation, he handed her his pick. Wendy half-crawled over the front seats to push the tape into the car stereo. While she was up there, she grabbed a stack of old magazines out of the glove compartment to read later. When she climbed back to the trunk, Dipper was laying on his back with his head resting on the the tailgate. She lay down beside him on her stomach, watching his face for any shadow of the past he had been so reluctant to discuss.

His eyes were closed, long lashes pressed against the dark circles underneath. He had told her once that he liked to read in bed. She could immediately picture him in his attic bedroom, pouring over a well-worn murder mystery 'til dawn. He had outgrown her hat, apparently... He hadn't worn it all summer. Now as he dozed beside her, temptation begged her to soothe fingers through the unruly shock of hair that covered his birthmark.

Wendy sighed.

"Hm?" Dipper asked, startling her. He opened his eyes and looked up into her face with sleepy curiosity.

"Now I feel bad." She offered lamely. He shook his head.

"Don't."

They gazed at one another, silent. The din of all the summer sounds- cicadas buzzing loud, the rolling melody from the car stereo could not compete with the race of her own heartbeat. Her breath stuck in her throat in anticipation of...

 _No._

Wendy opened her eyes, watching the shadows of tree branches dance on her bedroom ceiling. The clock on her bedside table read 4am. She replayed the events of the day for what may have been the millionth time that night.

His eyes dropped lower, to her lips, his gaze heavier than stone... And the profound desire to kiss him had been shocking.

In the end, she rolled away from him, softly encouraging him to take a nap. She escaped the car to go read through her old magazines in the grass. The moment had passed unacknowledged.

But she had been close enough to lean down... she could have threaded her fingers through that silly bed-head. She could have even kissed him. His lips must've tasted like the sweetness of midsummer and Pitt Cola.

She had to wonder if this wasn't what she had been hoping for when she had suggested Lookout Point in the first place.

Wendy grumbled again, opening her eyes to the same ghost-like silhouettes swaying overhead. Her whole body felt _so_ warm and she kicked the covers off with more force than was necessary. She needed some air.

Later, she sat outside in the stillness of the early morning sipping a cool glass of ice water. Her thoughts cleared as she talked herself through her predicament. Yes, fine, she had the _smallest_ crush on Dipper Pines. Big deal. She had _always_ admired him! The only difference between then and now was physical. He was taller, and she liked taller men. His voice was deeper, and to top it all off, he was getting that Pines family jawline she had always idly appreciated in Grunkle Stan and Ford. Most important of all, he was her friend... Maybe her _best_ friend, at that... And _still_ too young for her, _and_ too good to be taken advantage of... and...

And...

Wendy frowned out at the dark of the Gravity Falls Forest. Even with all its dark mystery, the woods had never frightened her. She had grown accustomed to that unknown at a very early age. However, this... _infatuation_ completely set her teeth on edge. She took a big gulp of ice water and groaned miserably as brain freeze descended on her.

 _Don't go there. Not now… not ever._

That was the first time she had been able to admit her feelings to herself. It was about as helpful fixing a hole in a boat after it had already gone under. She had a month left before the Pines returned to Piedmont, and Wendy was already halfway to drowning.

She tried her hardest to do _friendly_ things with Dipper from then on. Mabel also became a much appreciated buffer between the two of them for the rest of the summer. She also _definitely_ made sure they didn't go to Lookout Point again, though the temptation was always there.

Then finally, summer was over. Dipper and Mabel were saying their goodbyes to everyone that late afternoon at the bus depot. Wendy's eyes met Dipper's as he hugged Soos, her heart tightening in her chest at his rueful smile. A little while later, they were face-to-face.

"Thanks." She mustered. It was hard to look at him, and her cheeks bloomed pink against her pale Irish skin. She cursed her genetics.

"For what?" He asked softly. She laughed, and it sounded wavered, like she might cry.

Wendy cleared her throat. "You really saved me this summer, you know?" She rubbed her forearms and dropped her gaze to her shoes, hoping that somehow he would miss the way her face burned with nervous embarrassment. It was almost as if looking at him would've given her heart away- all the secret longing she found and bottled in herself threatened to come out right then and there.

Then Dipper grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, and she could feel his nose and lips buried in the crook of her neck, almost as if they burned her there. Wendy's breath hitched and her arms came together around his chest, tightening the embrace. Her eyes stung with tears, and her toes curled in her boots at the way their bodies fit together.

"Write me!" She barely managed in a whisper.

"Of course." His words formed against her neck and her entire body flushed. Wendy stepped away, dizzy, and she hoped that the crooked, wavering smile would be enough to convince him that she was not completely and utterly turned on. Just the same as she'd always been... Cool-as-ice Wendy Corduroy.

She let out a long sigh of relief as the bus pulled out of the depot. Later on, long after it had disappeared around the curve at the end of the main road, she made a promise to herself. She would quash this pointless infatuation she had for Dipper Pines. She would put all of her focus towards work... If she did that, maybe she could put away a little extra cash for after graduation.

But then the unexpected happened.

A few weeks back into the school year, Tambry texted her another certifiable essay. Only this time, it was in apology for not hearing out her side of the story that night. From there, it hadn't been too much effort to patch things up with the rest of her friends. Even Robbie had apologized, and confessed that even while she had been shunned for that night in the woods, talking with Tambry about it later had actually strengthened their relationship... By fall of their senior year, they were all going to the homecoming dance as a group again.

Wendy managed to keep her promise to herself and opened a savings account that year, and even managed to save a little bit. Most of her paychecks went towards parties, concerts and the like. It was her senior year, after all. She didn't want to hold herself back from making some great memories, as much as the rest of school kind of sucked.

Dipper kept his promise and wrote to her every couple of weeks. Wendy's responses were always peppered with little doodles of classmates and teachers... Most of the free time she had for writing was in study hall. None of what she had felt for him ever found its way into her letters. It seemed easier to keep things platonic on paper. She could almost forget how much she wanted him back then. He was still the same old Dipper. He would write on and on about his history classes and his friends at school. He would even surprise Wendy with a short, brightly colored note from Mabel in the envelope with his own.

He sent her a letter once that completely baffled her when she pulled it from the envelope. Two dollars in quarters spilled out into her hand along with a blank page. Wait, not completely blank. There had been a single sentence printed at the top edge in his careful hand.

 _Read me at the arcade near the air hockey table._

She was so curious that she borrowed the car and drove over there after dinner. The place was dead, but then it was a Tuesday night, after all. Most of the arcade's clientele would be at home suffering over homework by that time. Wendy walked past old cabinets and 3D shooters to the back where the air hockey game sat. It was one of those models painted day-glo colors. For effect the owner of the arcade had replaced the machine's fluorescents with UV bulbs.

Wendy sat on the tabletop and scanned the room... No one was around to yell at her for sitting on the equipment, so she hopped up on the table. She folded her legs akimbo and dug the letter from her coat pocket.

Unfolding it, she laughed aloud- the page wasn't blank at all! She smoothed it out over her knee as she began reading.

 _Hi Wendy,_

 _First off, thanks for being my first test subject! I've been wanting to test these invisible ink pens I picked up the other day. Second of all, sorry for sending you all the way to the arcade to read this- I didn't want to completely spoil it. Enclosed you'll find $2 in quarters, so play a couple rounds of Fight Fighters if you want!_

 _Not much has changed since I last wrote you. Piedmont's a pretty boring place, compared to Gravity_ _Falls._ _I'm learning some interesting stuff in my history classes, but my math and science classes are_ _basically_ _a wash_ _. I'm gonna try to keep my head above water until this semesters done. Here's hoping I can squeak by with a B-, then I won't have to think about it for the rest of the summer._

 _Speaking of summer break, that's where I actually have some news. I've got a summer job lined up, and it doesn't involve dressing up like a sideshow freak to impress tourists! I've been talking with Pacifica a bit and she's actually managed to convince her parents that their true ancestry is more important than their fake one (can you believe it?)._ _They_ _basically_ _want me to comb through the library at their house to piece together a family history for them_ _. So much better than being a junior lifeguard and I'm pretty sure it pays better, too._

 _Needless to say, I'm probably going to be pretty busy working on that, so you may not see me around the Mystery Shack as often... I hope you don't get too busy with Tambry, Robbie and the rest, otherwise we may never get to see each other!_

Another summer arrived, and the Pines twins were back in town. Wendy wanted her last summer in Gravity Falls to be the best. Now that she didn't have to worry about classes, she could put more time in at the Mystery Shack. She even started picking up shifts at Greasy's to save that much more money. After work, the whole crew would pick her up in Thompson's van.

Even as busy as she was, she often found herself midway through writing a text to Dipper. He had been right in assuming they wouldn't see much of each other. Sometimes they worked at the Shack together, but most of the time he was at the Northwest Mansion. She knew this was _normal_ _..._ but then the memories would flood in. Her snugly tucked into his arm as they watched late-night television, their last hug and the ache in her heart as he spoke against her skin... It would probably never happen again. She needed to believe that whatever magic they shared had passed out of her life forever.

This was simply how it needed to be.

At least that's what Wendy told herself as she turned her phone off for the tenth time. She couldn't bring herself to message him, even if she did miss him terribly. She wanted- no, _needed_ to be responsible and work towards being independent. She told herself over and over that it would get easier with time, and a month later, she almost believed it.

Then Dipper and Pacifica started dating.

* * *

 **Ice Breaker**

Naoko Asakura

Disclaimer: I do not own these characters! Yowza!

* * *

A/N: Helloooooo everyone. So sorry for not updating this in almost TWO YEARS! Chapter eight has been a tough one for me. I've been working on it & chapter nine on and off all this time. Honestly, I think they're hard because I _really_ don't enjoy the Dipper/Pacifica pairing. I like Pacifica as a character though, so I'm trying to be fair to her & her part of the story, since it is a pretty big issue in the grand scheme. I have more spare time as well, and I'd really like to try and get this whole story out because I know where I want it to go... Just have to get it there. Thanks for being so patient, and I hope you've enjoyed this rewrite! I hope I've done a better job at fleshing things out & also making those spicy moments that much spicier.

PS. I have a mix I created for this story that I listen to whenever I really want to get into the right mindset for writing. Each song has inspired some part of the direction I have been/will be taking as things progress. I will probably share it somehow! Not sure. Maybe I'll make new art for this story & put the track list in the drawing. We shall see...

BYE!


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